Alex Smith insists Friday night’s game is “just another step” in his preparation for the NFL’s regular season.

Sure it is.

The new Kansas City Chiefs quarterback faces his old San Francisco 49ers team at Arrowhead Stadium in the most intriguing Week 2 matchup of the pre-season.

After starting on the Niners for most of seven seasons, Smith was knocked out of the lineup with a concussion in late October and never got his starting job back. Colin Kaepernick sparkled in his place, and Smith wore a ball cap on the sideline for the rest of the season, which ended a few yards shy of a Super Bowl championship.

Three weeks later, the Niners agreed to trade Smith to the Chiefs for two draft picks.

Smith has started anew in K.C. under new head coach Andy Reid and his West Coast offence. Reid revealed this week that when he was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles he twice attempted to acquire Smith from the Niners.

While Smile thrived in San Fran under Jim Harbaugh’s tutelage, at least until the sudden plug-pull, he might do just as well under Reid.

As NFL Films talent analyst Greg Cosell told me in February, Smith won’t ever thrive by relying on his quarterbacking talent alone, even though he was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2005. Rather, like Oakland Raiders pickup Matt Flynn, Cosell said Smith is among those “quarterbacks who require a lot of team around them, who require a complete offence, who require a good defence.”

Then he can be effective, if not spectacular, as he was under Harbaugh in San Fran.

Despite their 2-14 meltdown last year, the Chiefs meet these requirements. They have elite talent all over the roster. Jamaal Charles is one of the league’s best running backs (when healthy), and Dwayne Bowe remains one of the NFL’s most under-appreciated wideouts. The K.C. defence has four Pro Bowlers. On you can go.

This week, everyone wants to know if Smith is seeking revenge against the club that gave up on him in the middle of a Super Bowl run, in the same month in which he’d engineered the first 300-yard-rushing/300-yard-passing game in club history, against Buffalo.

Smith told Chiefs beat writers that this week’s game will be “a little different.”

And yet …

“It’s a pre-season game. It’s just another step,” Smith said. “The focus is on Jacksonville for us (the Chiefs’ first regular-season foe). That’s what it’s always been and this is just another pre-eason game -- and then again, it’s not.”

Didn’t Smith tell the New York Times that this year he wanted to stick it to those who have doubted him in the past?

“No, it was not directed at (the Niners) at all,” he said. “Over the years, some of the things you go through, doubters and things like that, it builds up. Those guys gave me an opportunity. They have given me a couple of opportunities over the years there, coach Harbaugh and that crew, especially over the last couple of years.

“Obviously, we disagreed with what happened last year, but you move on from it.”

It’s only Week 2 of the pre-season, so Smith likely won’t play for long on Friday. Think he doesn’t want to outshine Kaepernick, though, in their brief head-to-head matchup? Sure he does.

For his part, Kaepernick said all the right things Wednesday in tipping his cap to Smith.

“He did a lot for me,” Kaepernick said. “Alex was someone that really helped me pick up the playbook, understand what we were trying to get done and how we wanted to do it.

MINNESOTA @ BUFFALO, Friday, 7 p.m. EDT: Kevin Kolb gets the starting nod at QB for the Bills. Still, look for rookie EJ Manuel to play quite a bit. When you hear a sudden shriek outside your window sometime between about 7:45 and 9 p.m., that’ll be the crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium going nuts upon Manuel’s entry.

INDIANAPOLIS @ N.Y. GIANTS, Sunday, 7 p.m. EDT: Andrew Luck and Eli Manning will play for a bit. The latter has looked especially sharp in camp. Each team hopes to get much better play from its pass rush and secondary this year.

PITTSBURGH @ WASHINGTON, Monday, 8 p.m. EDT: The best matchup is off the field: Robert Griffin III vs Mike Shanahan. On the field? Look to see how Steelers rookie RB Le’Veon Bell performs. Coaches want him to start, if he earns it. Can he pass-protect well enough?

Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith set to face old San Francisco 49ers teammates

Alex Smith insists Friday night’s game is “just another step” in his preparation for the NFL’s regular season.

The new Kansas City Chiefs quarterback faces his old San Francisco 49ers team at Arrowhead Stadium in the most intriguing Week 2 matchup of the pre-season.

After starting on the Niners for most of seven seasons, Smith was knocked out of the lineup with a concussion in late October and never got his starting job back. Colin Kaepernick sparkled in his place, and Smith wore a ball cap on the sideline for the rest of the season, which ended a few yards shy of a Super Bowl championship.

Three weeks later, the Niners agreed to trade Smith to the Chiefs for two draft picks.